President John Dramani Mahama stated considerable progress in settling Ghana’s long-standing power sector debt, announcing that the government has restructured and began to pay off a $1.7 billion legacy obligation owed to Independent Power Producers.
He stated that when his administration took office, the dollar-denominated debt overhang presented a significant threat to the stability of the oil industry.
“When we came into office, we had a debt overhang of about $1.7 billion owed to the independent power producers,” he stated on Saturday, April 4, 2026, Day Two of the Kwahu Business Forum.
He clarified that through agreed-upon concessions, the government negotiated a reduction in the debt load with the IPPs.
“Since Ghanaians were all taking haircuts from the debt restructuring, we told them they also must take haircuts, and they agreed, it amounted to about twenty percent of what was owed,” he stated.
According to President Mahama, a systematic repayment plan with scheduled disbursements and upfront installments was later decided upon.
“If they signed on to it, we gave them an immediate down payment, and we gave them the dates for the subsequent payment,” he continued.
In addition to dealing with legacy debt, the President emphasised what he called the most important development: the government’s capacity to fulfil its present financial commitments to electricity producers.
“The best announcement is, we are keeping up with their present-day bills… any bill they submit every month, we pay them for the electricity they produce,” he emphasised.
According to him, this is a significant step toward rebuilding trust in the power industry and guaranteeing continued electricity production.
It is anticipated that advancements in debt restructuring and payment discipline will reduce financial strain on electricity producers and enhance the stability of Ghana’s energy supply chain.
Source: newsthemegh.com